Your current review period, from Customer service stats
Messages
Message response rate section. Only the first message in each conversation counts, including auto-replies. Spam you report doesn't.
Shipping
On-time shipping & tracking section. Physical orders only: digital downloads and canceled orders don't count here.
Reviews
Ratings section, for this review period only. Not your shop's lifetime star score, which Etsy weights by age.
The most precise way: the result works from the exact average.
Orders and sales
Orders and Sales sections. Etsy hides each one once you pass 5 orders or the sales minimum. If a section is gone, switch on Not shown under it.
Your shop
Optional, but the badge needs both. Left blank, they show as not checked.
Cases: copy the count from the Case rate part of Customer service stats if Etsy shows it, since Etsy's own count already leaves these out. Counting yourself? Count only cases where the refund came from your Payment account, and leave out:
- Orders over $250
- Orders eligible for Etsy Purchase Protection
- Orders that you refunded before the buyer opened a case
Etsy's case rate rules. First sale: the date of your oldest order.
Enter your figures
Copy them from Customer service stats in Shop Manager. You'll see which targets you miss, by exactly how much, and what it takes to close the gap before the next review.
The three Star Seller targets
Message response rate
95% of first messages answered within 24 hours. Earns the Speedy replies badge.
On-time shipping and tracking
95% of physical orders shipped on time, with tracking. Earns the Smooth shipping badge.
Average review rating
4.8 or higher for the period. Earns the Rave reviews badge.
Plus at least 5 orders and $300 in sales in the period, Etsy's case rate standard, and 90 days since your first sale.
Rules checked on Etsy's Help Center on November 13, 2026. Etsy's Star Seller rules
Your review calendar
Loading today's date.
Etsy's pages don't say whether a figure just under a target counts. This checker assumes it doesn't, so 94.9% is short of 95% and 4.79 is short of 4.8. A percentage or average you type covers every count that could show as it, whether Etsy rounds or cuts off.
What is a Star Seller on Etsy?
Star Seller is a badge Etsy shows on your shop when you've given buyers great customer service for three months in a row. Etsy describes it as recognition for sellers "with a proven record of providing stellar customer service" ( What is the Star Seller badge?).
There are three targets, and each one earns its own smaller badge on the way:
- Speedy replies for answering 95% of first messages within 24 hours.
- Smooth shipping for shipping 95% of orders on time with tracking.
- Rave reviews for an average review rating of 4.8 in the period.
Hit all three, along with the order, sales and case minimums below, and you're a Star Seller. Etsy checks every shop on the 1st of each month.
Star Seller requirements
These are the requirements as Etsy's Help Center states them on November 13, 2026. Etsy has changed them before, so the checker keeps them in one place with a date.
| Target | What you need | How Etsy counts it |
|---|---|---|
| Message response rate | 95% within 24 hours | First messages answered within 24 hours ÷ all first messages |
| On-time shipping & tracking | 95% | Physical orders shipped by the ship-by date with valid tracking or an Etsy label ÷ physical orders |
| Average review rating | 4.8 or higher | Average star rating of your completed orders in the period |
| Orders | At least 5 | Received and fulfilled in the period, canceled orders left out |
| Sales | At least $300 (or local amount) | Item sales, not counting shipping or tax, canceled orders left out |
| Case rate | Etsy's standard | Cases refunded from your Payment account: no more than 3 under 300 orders, under 1% from 300. Orders over $250, orders eligible for Purchase Protection and orders you refunded before a case opened don't count |
| Time on Etsy | 90 days | Counted from your first sale |
Sources: What is the Star Seller badge?, How to track your progress and Star Seller metrics compared to customer service standards. On top of the numbers, your shop must follow all of Etsy's policies.
Sales minimum by currency
| Shop currency | Sales needed in the period |
|---|---|
| US dollars | $300 |
| British pounds | £200 |
| Euros | €250 |
| Canadian dollars | CA$350 |
| Australian dollars | A$350 |
| Any other currency | $300 USD |
Etsy notes that changing your shop currency resets your order and sales progress for the month, so only change it if you have to.
How the review period works
Etsy reviews every shop on the 1st of each month, using the three calendar months before that date. Etsy's Star Seller Terms give the example: a review on September 1 measures June 1 to August 31. If you qualify, the badge can take up to 24 hours to appear. In Customer service stats the default view is your current review period, which counts toward next month's badge. The previous review period tab shows the three months behind the badge you have now.
Say today is Nov 13. Your current period is September to November, and it's judged on Dec 1. You have 18 days left to change it.
| Month | Still counts on | Gone from |
|---|---|---|
| September | Dec 1 | Jan 1 |
| October | Jan 1 | Feb 1 |
| November | Feb 1 | Mar 1 |
So a bad September weighs on you for three reviews, then falls away. If a run of late orders sank this period, the fastest fix is often a clean next month while the bad one rolls off.
One detail for messages: a first message received in the last 2 days of a period may count in the next one instead, so a message on the last evening still gets its full 24 hours. You need 90 days since your first sale before your first review.
Message response rate: what counts
Etsy counts the first message in each conversation, and whether you answered it within 24 hours. Your rate is first messages answered in time divided by all first messages in the period (Etsy).
- Do auto-replies count? Yes. Etsy says temporary and weekly auto-replies count as a response (How to send messages to buyers). They're only sent to the first message a shopper sends you.
- What if the buyer never replies? It doesn't matter. Only your answer to the first message is measured. The rest of the conversation isn't counted.
- Spam: messages you mark as spam are left out, and so are messages from Etsy in your From Etsy folder (customer service standards).
- Help with order requests count, and Etsy marks them with a badge in your inbox along with first-time buyers.
- Marking a message unread after you replied doesn't restart the 24 hours.
- Vacation Mode doesn't pause Star Seller. Unanswered messages still count, so set a Vacation Mode auto-reply (Vacation Mode).
- No messages at all? Then response rate isn't counted, and you can still earn Star Seller on the other targets.
On-time shipping and tracking: what counts
An order is on time when it's marked complete by the ship-by date set by your processing time, with valid tracking or a label bought on Etsy where tracking is required (Etsy).
| Shop currency | Orders that need tracking |
|---|---|
| US dollars and most others | Every order |
| British pounds | £10 and above |
| Euros | €10 and above |
| Canadian dollars | CA$15 and above |
| Australian dollars | A$15 and above |
The value is the items before discounts, without shipping or tax.
- Do digital orders count? Not for shipping. Digital downloads are left out of on-time shipping but still count toward your orders, sales and reviews.
- Local pickup and hand delivery count as shipped without tracking, so they work against you. Etsy makes no exception (local pickup).
- Tracking added late isn't recognized. Etsy ignores tracking added after the ship date.
- Carrier delays and canceled orders are left out of the stat.
- Combined orders: add the same tracking to both.
- Don't complete an order early. Etsy warns that a ship date set before the parcel is on its way can hurt you (adding tracking).
Worked example: 130 of 137 orders on time is 94.8%. To reach 95% you need 3 more on-time orders with none late, because 133 of 140 is exactly 95%.
Average review rating: the 4.8 line
Etsy wants the completed orders in your review period to average 4.8 stars (Etsy). That's not the star score buyers see on your shop, which averages all your reviews and gives older ones less weight each year (how reviews work).
The line is tighter than it looks. With 50 reviews averaging 4.92, you can take 1 one-star review, 3 three-star reviews or 7 four-star reviews before you drop under 4.8. Even a four-star review pulls the average down.
Below the line, each review under five stars takes several fives to undo. With 83 reviews averaging 4.79, you need 2 more five-star reviews with nothing lower to reach 4.8. Round that average to one decimal and it reads 4.8, which is why the checker asks for counts by star. Type the average instead and it tries every star total that could show as your figure, and tells you when the answer could go either way.
A review left by mistake, or an unfair one
- A buyer can edit their review within 100 days of the estimated delivery date, as long as you haven't responded to it publicly. Message them first. Once you post a public response, they can no longer edit it (negative reviews).
- Etsy removes a review only when it breaks Etsy's policies, for example one only about the carrier or Etsy. Report it with Report this review.
- Never offer anything for a better review. Etsy treats review extortion and shilling as policy violations that can remove the badge for good (why a badge is removed).
Does 94.6% count as 95%?
Etsy's pages don't say. They state the targets as 95% and 4.8 and say nothing about rounding. So the checker assumes there is none: 94.6% is a miss, and so is a 4.75 average.
It shows every figure rounded down for the same reason. 130 of 137 on time is 94.8% here, not 95%. Aim to be over the line, not on it.
A percentage you copy from Etsy is shortened too, and Etsy doesn't say whether it rounds or cuts off. Allowing for both, 95% of 1,000 orders could be anything from 945 to 959 on time, and 946 of 1,000 is a miss. So when you type a percentage or an average, the checker works out every count it could stand for. If they all land on one side of the target you get a verdict. If they straddle it, you see Too close to call and a nudge to enter the exact counts.
What the badge does, and doesn't
- It tells buyers. Etsy shows the badge on your shop so buyers can spot sellers with great service.
- It doesn't directly change search. Etsy says Star Seller badges "do not directly impact your search ranking" (Etsy).
- Missing it isn't a penalty. Etsy's lower customer service standards (80% of first messages answered within 48 hours, 80% of orders on time) are what can lower search visibility if you fall short of them (Etsy).
- Etsy can take it away for an overdue bill, limits on your account, a policy violation or inflating your stats, even when the numbers qualify.
Answer every first message in time with Alura
Response rate is the target sellers lose on busy days. Alura Customer Messages drafts a reply to each buyer from their Etsy order and your shop policies, in the way you already write. Turn on Auto-draft replies and every message that needs an answer has a draft waiting. Nothing sends until you press Send. See Customer Messages.
The Alura AI agent helps with the shipping side: it shows what's unshipped and adds tracking to an order, with a preview before anything changes on Etsy. See the AI agent.
Need a reply right now? The free Etsy message reply generator writes one for you.
A badge Etsy shows on shops that gave great customer service over the last three months: 95% of first messages answered within 24 hours, 95% of orders shipped on time with tracking, and a 4.8 average review rating, plus at least 5 orders and $300 in sales.
Over the review period you need a 95% message response rate within 24 hours, 95% on-time shipping with tracking, a 4.8 average rating, at least 5 orders, at least $300 in sales (or £200, €250, CA$350, A$350), Etsy's case rate standard, and 90 days since your first sale.
Etsy reviews shops on the 1st of every month using the three months before it, and the badge can take up to 24 hours to show. A shop needs 90 days since its first sale. If you miss this month, older months drop out one at a time, so a clean month helps quickly.
Etsy says Star Seller badges do not directly impact search ranking. The badge helps buyers spot shops with great service. Falling below Etsy's lower customer service standards is what can lower search visibility.
Yes. Etsy counts temporary and weekly auto-replies as a response to a first message. Only the first message in each conversation is measured, and messages you mark as spam are left out.
Digital downloads are left out of on-time shipping and tracking, but they still count toward your orders, sales and reviews. Make sure the listing is set up as a digital item.
Etsy's pages don't say. They state the targets as 95% and 4.8 with no rounding rule, so this checker assumes no rounding up. Aim to be over the line, not on it.
Only cases opened by buyers where the refund was taken from your Payment account. Etsy leaves out orders over $250, orders eligible for Etsy Purchase Protection, and orders you refunded before the buyer opened a case. Under 300 orders you can have up to 3, and from 300 orders it must be under 1%.
No. Etsy keeps reviewing your last three months, and unanswered first messages still count against you. Set a Vacation Mode auto-reply, which counts as a response.
Give it 24 hours after the 1st. If it's still missing, Etsy may be holding it back because the shop doesn't comply with all of its policies, has an overdue bill, or has limits on the account. Check for a banner on Customer service stats.
